Of Love and Adventure
by GoldenGail3
Summary: Not a Marry Sue, not a SI. Book lore is tight (but there will be minor movie references in this, lol)
1. Year of Darkness

Rivendell,

Year 1050 Third Century,

It was a beautiful day and Lord Elrond and his lady wife, Celebrian, were sitting in their private quarters as to discuss a very private thing. The Lord of the House was holding his lady's hand, as she sat besides him on the soft light-emerald coloured coach. They were looking over reports sent by one of their diplomats - in this case, in regards to the fall of the formerly known Great Greenwood. It had fallen under so more corruption at the Enemy's hand, that it was now dubbed Mirkwood, for it was a rather murky forest nowadays. He found that most concerning that the Enemy decided to strike at the heart of the forest - even though he was supposedly long since dead. Elrond had this suspicion that the enemy wasn't yet defeated due to the failings of Isildur to destroy the One Ring as It was meant to be destroyed.

"The Great Greenwood has fallen under the darkness of Mordor, which worries me as well as King Thranduil." There were other things that worried Elrond - in regards to Mordor. It's power was growing as of late, and supposedly, the growing darkness could even be felt in Lorien. He stared at his wife, of whom stood besides him. The Lady Celebrian was considered one of the most lovely amongst the elves, with long honey-gold coloured hair, a small, yet delicate face, and bright brown-colored eyes. She also wore a gentle blue-colored toga-like dress, of which was pinned together by the symbol of House Galadriel. Her eyes flickered with warmth and intelligence, like her mother's, and she held his hand admirably. Sometimes, he just needed a minute away from the hustle and bustle of his Kingdom to spend a minute or two with his lady wife.

"Yes, but Gondor grows stronger each day. It is said that it's more than a match for Mordor's grasping power at any rate." She sounded so positive about this - but she like him, had seen the fall of the Númenóreans at the hands of Sauron. He couldn't be so sure as to trust _men_ on that, for they were easy to be led astray by Sauron and into his grasping little fingers as it was. All he wanted was power, and he was gaining it, by torturing men and elves alike into the blasted corrupted race known as the Orcs. But besides, he was an intelligent being - Elrond had thought him dead when his mortal being was killed when Numenor fell under the sea, but no, that corrupt ring had saved him, for it held a part of his soul within it.

He shrugged, "Similar tidings have been said about Numeron before Sauron grew jealous of its power and wished to subdue it." He wanted an alliance with King Thranduil - of whom he believed was rather wild and uncontrollable man actually, despite being related to Thongol himself (through his younger brother, Elmo), but that connection was nothing of importance right now. He had a daughter, the wild youth of Esther, and the King of the Wild Elves had a son whom was in need of a wife whom would become his Queen someday no doubt, and such a marriage would forge a powerful alliance between the two nations. He needed all the allies he could possibly manage right now, even from the wild Wood Elf folk.

"And he did. I remember it, you know, one of my brother's died fighting the Black Numereon's as you know. I know how man can fall prey to evil, but not all men are evil and I do indeed have faith in the new Sea Kings of Gondor." She sounded so hopeful for humanity, unlike himself, and he should be the most hopeful one of all. For his twin brother was a human - and his line still lived, but they had been corrupted by Sauron though. He spent many nights sleepless wondering how Elros would've responded all this madness coming forth from his descendants and what came to mind wasn't exactly pleasant, to say the least.

"Hmm, regardless I think we should do something less another evil arises again and we are all alone to fight it. I don't.. particularly want to deal with the dwarves, seeing what they did to our last homeland." Those dwarves were a lot of untrustworthy folk, seeing as though they sacked Doriath, Thingol's homeland. In fact, he trusted humans far more than them, despite what they did in Numeroen for the evil purposes of Sauron.

She sighed, as she walked out the balcony before her. The air was warm, the sky was beautiful and bright today. A beautiful summerday it was indeed, and the sounds of the waterfall coming from the Misty Mountains made the mood in the air all the more pleasurable - to both of them, as he could feel ripples of pleasure coming off of his beloved wife as they stood on the simple white-coloured balcony that overlooked the vast valley. "My mother doesn't like dwarves either, so I don't blame you for thinking lesser of them." He vaguely remembered that Galadriel had indeed escaped from Doriath as the bloody Dwarves had sacked and burned the place after killing Thongol.

"But regardless, we need to make a plan on what to do in case.. he rises again." He had this innate suspicion that Sauron wasn't quite dead, and it troubled him greatly. He was more than willing to give up his two-daughters to the humans and to the wild Prince of the newly dubbed Mirkwood if it need be. As for his sons, he'd train them to fight, fight against those orcish barbarians that tried to invade his land, his family. He'd do anything if it meant keeping Rivendell from ending up like the Gondolin, the Hidden Kingdom of his father before him.

She nodded at him. "I know you are nervous, my husband, I can feel it and understand why you'd be so skittish about this. The Dark Lord rising would be the end of our sweet life here, but it could be hundreds or even thousands of years until he rises once more in his full glory, if we're lucky that is. Maybe perhaps, today and tomorrow, and as long as time provides us, we raise our children in the light and to fight the darkness, if they need to." She did make a lot of sense in that regard, and thus, he'd likely submit to her wishes.

He chuckled, hugging her before giving her a proper kiss.. She wasn't wrong - yes, their children should be raised in a place of gayness and safety, but caution was always a thing they had to be, even in such nice times, even in times of peace and plentiful, for there was always danger lurking in the shadows, unbeknownst to all. She also probably could feel the anxiety he felt through the love bond they shared, likewise he could feel her weariness of which he just wanted to kiss away to be honest. He just wanted her right now, nobody else _could_ possibly destroy this moment with his most beloved Celebrain.


	2. The lady of the Forest

Mirkwood,

Year 3017 Third Century,

The escape of Golem and the attack on his guards via orcs had sent father into such a searing rage that Legolas felt oddly frightened, like he had done something wrong, as he stood before his father. He sat on his throne, with a look of utter most disdain - not at himself mind you, but at the orkish invaders, with a crown of flowers seeing as though it was in the midst of summer. Besides him was his mother, Queen Ninddîs, with her flowing mud-colored hair and warm deep-brown colored eyes, like those of a oak tree. She looked deeply concerned as her warm eyes bore down at her, and then she looked at her husband for him to snort indigiously.

"I have brought you today to do a favor for me - you shall go bearing news to Elrond the Half-Elf, that the creature known as Golem or otherwise known as Sméagol has escaped from my possession in the midst of a Orc attack. I want him to know, in the case he somehow finds the creature." He nodded, before bowing before his father. He'd do whatever his father, his King, wanted him to do - but first, he wanted to say goodbye to Locien, his little brother, before departing to Nordor lands.

"Father, may I say goodbye to Locien before I go?" He knew Locien would've liked it, as he knew the boy heavily looked up to him for advice and such. His father gave him a half-moon smile as a response to that, and his mother looked somewhat pleased, despite the worry still being present on her face. She didn't say anything, but he doubted she needed to, given the look on father's face at the suggestion.

"Of course I wouldn't expect otherwise, your younger brother, I do believe he's hunting for frogs in the trees. I wouldn't expect anything less of him." Father spoke with such gayness in regards to Lucien, of whom was his fifth born son. His older brothers had both died during the Kinslayings done by Feanor's sons, which explained why he didn't really like the Nordor - and why he was really very protective of their newest child, a girl by the name of Míresgaldes, of whom was only just a baby, at 13 years old. His mother was holding the baby in her arms as she sat next to her husband, of whom stared at the infant with something of delight in his eyes. Afterall, this was the Wood King's first born daughter, and he was more keen to cherish her above anything else.

"Alright." He smirked - he knew exactly where he was. He use to do the exact same thing, when he was a child too, and he knew the best areas for frog-hunting as a result of this. He gave his mother a wink and a smile before he walked off - he'd no doubt say more things to her in the future.

He'd take a ganger where he was, as he walked alongside the trees, hearing their harmonious voices. He wanted to ask them where Lucien was, but he didn't need too, as they were laughing - not maliciously mind you, but in amusement, at what the young Prince was doing. He sighed, as he looked upwards to see his golden-haired brother.

"Legolas! Hello! I was waiting for you!" He gave him a big smile as he jumped off the tree and fell gently onto the ground. The boy had father's golden locks, unlike himself, of whom ended up with his mother's chestnut hair, and bright brown-colored eyes. He was also dressed in a green-yellow colored tunic and pants. He wasn't wearing any shoes, and had this mischievous glint in his eyes, but he ran to him and gave him a large hug.

He smiled softly, as he hugged his little brother back. "I'm going to Rivendell, Lucien. Take care of mother and neth for me, will you?" The little boy gave him a bright smile as he held onto his bag of presumably freshly caught Tree Frogs.

"Yes, h'anar ." The fifty year old said brightly. It was rather rare in their people that two children would be born 40/50 years apart, but mother and father didn't appear to chaved by such rules (or they had alot of will between the two of them).

He brushed the boy's hair before gently separating from his soft grasp. The look of admiration in the boy's brown eyes wasn't lost on him - he'd remember it as he took his horse, the gentle Edlothi, out of the forest that he called home, on a road lest taken by all but his own family, as it was a rather soft grassy road with wild grown roses and strawberries on the side of the rather hastily made trail - but you see, it was used so very rarely because it led to the Centre of the Forest, where the Lady dwelled. He wanted some advice before he hit the road, and whom better was it from but the Lady of Mirkwood? She whom saw the world before the sun and stars - the elves called her Aerlinn, as they could often hear her singing in some ancient tongue, before she suddenly stopped and disappeared back into the folds of the forest, for some unknown reason. He'd compare her to the entity known as Tom Bombabill, seeing as though it appeared that she was here before them.

He could hear her singing, her soft song, as he came closer to her gentle grove. He had never seen her before, so he was nervous to say in the least.

She stopped singing suddenly, and for some reason, he found himself face to face with her. She was beautiful in an very ancient way, with her having long thick green-colored hair that was as thick as moss and eyes so deep a brown, they seemed to be the color of all the trees. Her dress, well, he couldn't see it as it kept on blending into the background.

"Are you the fair brennil Aerlinn?" She gave him a smile of sorts.

"Tangada, nín brannon ned brethil Eldar, as your race likes to call itself. It's very cute, you know, but everyone forgets about Aerlinn. Even my own husband did, when he looked at a waterfall for too long. They only remember me for my singing, your people, and thus that's why they named me in your tongue, song." She sighed.

His eyes widened. How did she magically get here without him noticing at all? He had one of the sharpest hearing in his race, so how did she manage to do this?

"You seem shocked to see me, but I am the Lady of the Forest, as your people dubbed me in ages long since past. I can be anywhere in this forest, at any time, if I so please too" At that, as if to prove her point, she popped somewhere else to give him a little wave before going back to her original position. How she managed to do with was unknown, and she wouldn't tell anyone else about it - not even his grandfather, of whom it was said had an affair with her, but she wouldn't say for certain. She like most ancient things, appeared to like playing with things far beyond her youth, even though it was reported that when the Orcs invaded her music turned from light to pure and utter rage. Whatever she did to them was up to the imagination as far as it went, but Legolas considered the fact that none of the invaders got out of the forest alive.

"How do you do that?" He wondered vaguely, even knowing he wouldn't get any answers out of her. He had visited her once before as merely a boy, and she had been extremely vague on everything about her abilities and such.

"Tis is the gift the Dawn before man gave to me, but in exchange, I was forever cursed to fade away until nobody could see me again." She sighed, "and that my husband was doomed to stare at himself in a bloody river forevermore until he also faded away into the world." She sounded so very sad over this. It was moments like these when Legolas felt youthful in comparison to some of the other Elvhen he's encountered thus far.

He cut the chase to avoid any more monologing about past and future things. "I need advice, my lady." Whatever words he said were said in secrecy and thus nobody heard them besides for the Lady and himself, but whatever she said seemed to have a great impact on him as he rode off into the distance, whilst the Lady sang in her ancient tongue that nobody had heard before, but sounded as beautiful and heart-breaking as the Lady herself was.


End file.
